Improvement in



'JNITED .h rATEs PATENT Gra ns,

SAMUEL WALLIS, 0F TOWNSEND, MASSACHUSETTS.

' IMPRO EMENT IN' 'K' iTTme-MAosiw Es,

Specification forniing part of Letters Patent No. 14,568, dated October 4, i864.

To all whom it may concern:

.Be it known that I, SAMUEL "WALLIS, of Townsend, in the county of Middlesex and State of Massachusetts, have invented an 1mproved Knitting-Machine, of which the following is afull, clear, and exact description, reff erenee being had to, the accompanying drawings, making part ofthis specification, in which- I I Figure l is a'perspective view of my improved machine; 1 Fig.2 is a vertical trans verse section through thesame, looking in the: Y direction of the arrow 8, Fig. 1; Figs. 3 and 4, details to'be referred to hereinafter.

My invention has for its object to simplify the construction of knitting=machines, and

, therebyreduce theireost; and it consists in the i employment of a series of double-acting guideneed1es,acting alternately as thread-guides and 'needlcs,'which are secured to needle-bars worki g,on planes inclined to each other at right rigles, or nearly so, by theuse of which needles enableddispense with the jacks,

-1kers,-pressers, and latches usually oyed, and the liability of the eedles to h s-k is also greatly reduced,

I Myinventionalso consist'sin drawing the loops off the ends of the needles'by means of, two stationary'draw bars,running lengthwise of the machine and placed one on each side,

hetweenwhich the finished work passes; and my invention also consists in reciprocating theneedle-bars and needles laterally, when said needles act alternately as needles and guides, so as to connect or interlace the workasit progresses. To enable others skilled inthe art to understand and use my invention, I will proceed which runs the driving-shaft B, which carries at one end the lily-wheel (Land at its opposite-ends, within' the frame-work, the wheels I Djand E, in each of which is cut a cam-groove,

(As the wheels 1) and E, with theircam' grooves andsconne'etions, are'exaetly alike, I

will describe but 'one,referring particularlyto b a are two levers pivoted to the'fra'lne-work at I d e, and! carrying rolls at their'lower ex tremities, which work in' the cam-groove a of the wheel D. To the upper ends of these lerevolved-the carriages F G, through the coin nections described, will be alternately moved up and down on their ways as required. H -.is a spiral spring, (there being one on each side of the machine,) secured at its opposite-ends to the carriages F and G, which serves to lessen the friction of the operating parts.

. I J are two needle-bars,which are furnished with tononsiwhich are adapted toand slide in dovetailed grooves in the carriages F and G, for a purpose that will-be hereinafter described. To these needle-bars. are secured the needle-holders i j,zwhich are formed of soft metal, with a notch, h, which fits into a groove in the needle-bars,=their lowerends boiu g beveled and held in place by a plate, K, screwed down firmly to the carriage, and they are confined in place laterally by means of screws 10. From these needle-holders project the needles "k Z, each of which is formed of a flat piece of steel with a hole, m, a little below the center of its length, and a holeor eye, a, at its upper end, which is bent seas-to form a shoulder, as seen in Figs. 1, 3, 'ahd 4. A groove, w, for the yarn to lie in, is made in each needle-,from the hole m to the eyem, as seen in Fig.1

L-M- are twospools or yarn beams, the shafts of .which' run in bearings in the frame-work and have the necessary amount of friction applied to them by means of Springs 0 p in a well-known manner. The ends of the yarn are led from these spools to the needles and passed through the holes m a, as seen: in F'g. 4, and then passed down between the drawbars q r and secured -to a weighted roll, 9, so as to give the requisite amount of tensionto the work-.- These draw-bars are of atriangular form in. cross-section, with their upper ed ges beveled oh and extend lengthwise of the niachine, being made adjustable by means of screws-and inclined slots in the frame-work,

so that their distance apart may be varied as desired, As the needles k l are operated past each other, a series of loops will be formed alternatel'y on each row is and l, whichare drawn oil, as the needles descend, by means ot the tll'll\\'-l)lll'.\'1,' r passingdown between them, and forming a round braid or t'ruig'e.

To connect the work aml 't'orm it into-lime.

the needle-bars and needles are reciproeatcd laterally independent of their up and down I motion, so as to inteilaee and connect the lower side of the carriage lr, and furnished at its upper end with teeth, which engage with a rack, s, on the lower side of the needle-bar l. The lower end ot' this lever E is tla-ttcned out, as seen in Fig". 'l, andis formed with two inclined sides, 5 aml ti, which strike alternately agl'aiust a series (it pins, t v, projecting: from a drunnt), on a shat't, l, harinr its hearings in the frame-work A. These pins 1 u are set into the drum at equal distances apart, the former being placed opposite to the center of the Spaces between the latter. To one end o the shaft fl is seenredaratchet-wheel,(Q, wln is revolved at intervals by means ot'a pan 1, r, pivoted to the rod to, projecting from the needlebar I, so that; at each upward motion of the carriage l the shaft I hid drum 0 will be rorol'w-d a distance equal to that. between the teeth ol' the'ratchet-wheel, so as to bring a different pin'ot' the series 2 or a into a po sition to be struck by the inclined side 5 or 6 of the traversing lever N on the descent of the crrriae'e l-', the irnni vt) being held from 't'orth in a lateral direction at the requiredintervals, so as to interlacc and connect the loops with each other, the needle bar being steadied and held tirml vin place after each \ibra ttion by means of a spring-catch, Iv, at-

tached to the carriage l- ,,w hiclt falls into one of a series of note-lies. (i in the needle-bar l, 1 the form of the notches -ing such that. the

catch will be drawn out tit-then: when the needle-bar is vibrated.

'.lhc needle-halal, on the opposite side of the llliliclililt llitljfi be :eeiproeatcd laterally in t e samemanm-r as the needle-bar l, in which case:

the work witl be connected at erery loop instead of at. erery two loops, as is the case when one needle-bar only is n-ciproeated. t .abovealescribed; or the needlebznwl ma receive no' lateral motion :r'ud a portion of the-pins may be removed from tin-drum l amt the. intervals between thelan-ral 'moreim-nts ot' the bar I be increased, so as to cause a number of loops to be formed before the ork is connectrd, thus varying the size of the lilf'filles'tllltl the pattern as may bedesired; oreitheriu-edle-bar may be. rcciprocated httcrallywithout the other, or they may be reciprmated alternately, and

it will be seen that a great variety of patterns may thus be produced by varying the lateral morements of one or both of the needh-lmrs. \\'hen;a fringe. is required at the end of the article beine; knit, the pawl I is disconnected from the ratchet-wheel (.3,and the needles are operated without any lateral movement, which causes each needle with its thread to knit a separate chain, the whole series forming a hinge. I

Operation: The parts being in the position shown in l ie's. l. and 2,- the yarn from the spools li M is tirst'. passed through the lower holes, m, in the needles .1; and I, and thence along; the grooves 11 in the needles and through the eyes 1 in their upper extremities, after which it is passed down between the draw-bars I] r and Secured to a weighted roller,'t so as to give the proper degree of tension to the work, as in ordinary knittingmachines. operation, the necdlobar l commences move upward and the points of the "cones I; pass in between the shoulder or crampot theheedles [on the opposite side and the yarinasseen in Fig. 4, the needles 7: thus aetingas guides. The needles lare now drawn down, leaving a row ot' loops on the needles It.v The needlesl then commence to ascend and pass in the same .manner as abovedescribed between the cramp ot' the needle k and the yarn to form a second row of loops. The needles k are now drawn down, leaving a row of loops on the needlesl, and the row of loops left on the needles 7.- by the needles (is drawn oti' by the draw-bar (1 and the tension on the work, and the operation is continued alternately in the same manner. This forms a round braidcomposed ot' two-strands, the whole series of whichitbrms a fringe. To eonnect this workand .t'orm it into lace, the nee dles are reciproc'a'ted laterally, as before described, the reciprocation taking place as soon as the needles-are,clear of each other, which causes each needle k [to take a loop from a ditierent one of the needles ltrom that which it'did in'making the fringe, thus interlocking the loops with each other. 1

For the proper operation of the machine it is necessary that the number of threaded needles l be one less than the number of threaded needles lose as to prevcntthe dropping of loops at. the edges of the work, when the needles are reciprocated laterally.

\Vhcrehoth sets of needles I: and l are reeiprocatcd laterally, a diti'erent stitch is made and the work is knit closer.

lnst'ead of the needle-bars l J being in chm-d at anangle of forty-live degrees, as shonmfthcy may be. inclined at any desired angle or one may work in a vertical and the other in a htn-izontal plane, and the needles 70 I may pass each other at a,.dit't'ercnt angle from that shown w thout departing from the spirit oil my invention.

l am aware that bars carrying; ordinary.

hooked needles have been reciproeated later The machine bein nextiut in" ally. In my'invention I use a peculiar instrument, which acts alternately as a needle and .a guide, and when the bar containing these instruments in my case reciprocates it becomes aguide-bar, and it is for this additional function of the reciprocating bar-that I desire to make claim.

What I claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. The double-acting guide-needles 70 1, acting alternately as thread-guides and needles, V

substantially as set forth.

2. The draw-bars q 1, for the purpose of drawing off the loops from the needles, operating substantially as' described.

3. In combination vyith...n eedles which act alternately as needle and guides, reciprocating one or both 0 ,th needle-bars I J later--- rice, for the purpose of ally by any suitable interlacing or connecting the work, substantially as set forth.

4. The'wheels 1) and E with their cann-v 

